Help tranferring files from old laptop to new pc

[h2dk]

As a favor for my wife's bosses' mom....

I hooked her up with a new Dell P4 2.53 Ghz system...she wants me to ghost her laptop hd to this new system. She doesn't really need it ghost"ed" because of the new OS on the desktop, but she does need a lot of files transfered over. The problem is, she has no network card in the lappy (or cd burner).

What is the easiest way to transfer files and folders from the lappy to the PC? Can I do it over serial or parallel cables? If so, what software is required?

My only option now is to attach an external zip drive and transfer 100 mb at a time.

(I know there is a way to hook up via serial, my buddy did it years ago from his 286 lappy to his top-of-the-line 486 133

Any help would be appreciated...

 

[badboypolar]

Well the slowest way to do it is to get serial cable and Laplink software and start transfering remind you that serial speed is Slllooooowwwww. Other wise you could zip disk it but you won't be able to get files bigger then 100 mb. Hope you get a raise for that crap

 

[redbeard1]

I don't have an XP box handy, so I'm assuming here. In win2k you go to the network and dial up connection and use the add new feature. Then if there is a box for direct connect, check that and proceed. Though in win2k it only talks about a parallel cable connection, not serial. Maybe they don't support serial anymore. This is a special cable, I usually call them a laplink cable, or direct connect cable. They are available at most good computer stores. Use the windows help file, and get to the index tab and type in direct and see what XP says. In win2k it talks about needing permissions and passwords and all that happy stuff, so be prepared.

You can purchase a direct connect USB cable also, if the laptop has usb. That should come with some software to initialize the connection.

Have you double checked the new Dell for a parallel port. I have a friend who had a similar situation, and the new system did not have a parallel port, so he had to buy a usb zip drive.

Getting a pcm\cia network card and a cross over cable may be as easy an anything else. Officemax has had belkin laptop nic's for cheap. At least compared to a few years ago. Like $30.

 

[h2dk]

thanks for the responses...I found somebody with a laplink cable and software....there is only a few hundred megs to transfer...so hopefully it won't be too long of a process